August 1, 2014
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Challenge and Correction

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Holy God, Your mercies are new every morning and Your faithfulness is astounding. How great You are!

Read John 16:5-15

For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.

[5] but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ [6] Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. [7] But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. [8] When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: [9] about sin, because people do not believe in me; [10] about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; [11] and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. [12] “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. [13] But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. [14] He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. [15] All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“We do not hold the doctrine of the Trinity because it is self-evident or logically cogent. We hold it because God has revealed that this is what he is like” (Millard J. Erickson). In this life, “We don’t see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist” (1 Cor. 13:12, The Message). One day it will all be clear.

Remember the Paraclete, who popped up briefly in 14:16 and 26? Then in our last passage from John, when we read of the harshness of “the world,” there was the Paraclete again–a witness to all that is true, in days of division and distress (15:26). Today’s passage carries the theme forward: here, too, the Spirit of truth stands and speaks against the world, to challenge, correct and convict (8-11). The Paraclete also guides and guards the church, helping Christians to stay true to Jesus’ teaching in new and changing times (12-15).

There are various Old Testament parallels and precedents to the Paraclete. Think of the successor figures, for example, who took over from great prophets and leaders–Joshua following Moses, Elisha coming after Elijah. In some of the same ways the Paraclete is a successor, carrying forward the work of Jesus. Or another Old Testament parallel is an image in Daniel 10 and 12 of a mighty angel fighting for the people of God as they pass through difficulty and danger. This too is part of the Paraclete’s work–fighting in heavenly power, to defend the faithful and uphold their cause in troubled times.

Yet the Paraclete is not a free agent, acting alone and independently. John’s Gospel, more fully perhaps than any other book in the Bible, shapes and supports the church’s belief in God as Trinity. As Jesus was sent to share the Father’s word, the Paraclete comes to pass on Jesus’ message. The three are One, in work and wisdom, in truth and teaching, in purpose and power. So the Paraclete arrives to signal the Ascension of Jesus, and to express the power, sovereignty and victory of the risen Lord (8-10). That is the reason the Paraclete can call the world to account.

Apply

It is not our task to convict the world of sin; it is the Spirit’s. Our role is to embody the teaching of Jesus in the world of today. How are you faring in doing this important task?

Closing prayer

Holy Spirit, I want to show the world the difference Jesus makes in my life. Continue to mold me and make me.

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